


NCIS Basketball

by Tivaholic



Category: NCIS, tiva - Fandom
Genre: Basketball, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25938943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tivaholic/pseuds/Tivaholic
Summary: The MCRT have been given the challenge to play in a government-wide basketball game. There opponent, the FBI. What happens when Tony has to teach the gang how to play?
Relationships: Timothy McGee/Abby Sciuto, Ziva David/Anthony DiNozzo
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter One

All four agents were sitting at their desks, working on paperwork. Tony was spitting spitballs at McGee as he was trying to work on his report. Ziva was working on her second report for the day, and every so often, she would feel Tony’s eyes on her. She would look up, but he would look right back down and pretend to be doing his work. She didn’t mind if he looked at her. It meant he wasn’t looking at anybody else. She would never admit to him that whenever he flirted with a new probie or the mail carrier girl that she got jealous. She had to have some dignity.

As she was about to start back on her report, her computer dinged, signaling a new email. She opened her tab and read the team-wide email from Vance.

Team Gibbs, 

This Saturday there will be a government played basketball game that you will be required to play in. Your opponent will be the FBI, more in detail, Agent’s Fornell’s team. Please bring your A-game and show that NCIS is not always on the bottom.

Good Luck,  
Leon Vance  
Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Ziva looked up as Tony let out a cheer from his desk. He looked around the bullpen, and his eyes landed on Gibbs, who probably never heard the email go through to his computer.

“Boss! Look at your email! Or not, I’m not trying to tell you what to do.” Gibbs gave him a glare resulting in a laugh from McGee and Ziva. McGee let out a huff.

“Basketball?” Tony’s smile was as broad as his face.

“Yeah, McGoo. Basketball. One of the best sports in the world, and a very popular one at that. Come on, Probie, you can get away from your video games long enough to play a real sports game. Right?” McGee glared at him, then looked back down at his screen, rolling his eyes.

“I do not know anything about basketball. I will need to be taught how to play.” Ziva spoke up, voicing that she never played the game before. Tony looked her way and smiled even harder.

“No worries, Zeevah. I can teach you. I played basketball in high school and college. Would’ve gone pro if I hadn't hurt my knee.” He looked down, still angry about that fact. He wouldn’t trade NCIS for the world, though. If he never would’ve gotten hurt, he never would’ve met his family. Or, more importantly, the Israeli goddess that sits across from him every day. Whenever she looked his way and looked at him with those beautiful brown doe eyes, he melted inside. He wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world, not even being a pro player.

“How about this. We met at the gym downtown and practice before the game on Saturday. Get all of you playing your positions correctly.” Then he thought of something.

“Wait. There are only four of us. We need at least five on the court, not to mention the replacements on the bench.” Tim looked up, hopeful.

“Which means we can’t play. Great, can we go back to paperwork now?” He usually hated paperwork, but he hated sports more. Especially if he had to play them. Tony looked down with his thinking face on. Something Ziva found adorable. How his forehead and nose would scrunch up as he thought. You could practically see the lightbulb above his head.

“We could get Abby. She was a cheerleader in high school. She would’ve been there to see the games, which in turn means she knows somewhat of what to do.” Tim slunked back into his seat. Why did they have to do this? This was a government office. Not a gym class. Tony picked up his phone and pressed four on speed dial. Almost immediately, Abby picked up the phone.

‘Hey, Tony. What’s up?’

‘Hey, Abbs. Are you busy?’

‘Not really. Major mass pec is still working on the results for Colman’s team. Why?’

‘Great. Could you come up to the bullpen real quick?’

‘Tony. What’s going on?’

‘Nothing. Can you come up here or not?’ 

‘Yeah. I’ll be there in a minute.’

‘Okay, bye, Abbs.’ 

Tony set the phone back down and looked around at the team. They were all looking at him as if he had three heads.

“What?” 

“We have never seen you this excited over something work-related Tony.” Ziva tried to suppress the smile that threatened to be expressed. He was acting like a child on Christmas morning. 

“Well, it’s basketball. I haven’t played since college. This will be fun. Not to mention we could kick the FBI's ass.” Gibbs smirked at that. What the three agents didn’t know was that he played in high school as well. He was the school MVP for three years straight and was known throughout Stillwater for his talent. He wouldn’t tell them that. After all, it was Gibbs, the mystery man. 

Abby made her way into the bullpen with worry spread across her face at the sudden call upstairs. Tony saw her coming from the elevator.

“Abbs, you were a cheerleader, right?” Abby looked at him just like the others did earlier. Like he was crazy. 

“Yeah.” She drew out her word as she was still confused (and somewhat concerned) for what was going on. Tony clapped his hands together.

“Great! So that means you went to basketball games?” 

“Yeah.” Ziva could see that he was barely containing his excitement. This was important to him.

“Well, Vance sent out an email that we’re playing in a government-wide basketball tournament.” Abby finally understood what this was about.

“Do you need an extra player?” Tony smiled and nodded enthusiastically. 

“Okay. I will play, but I’m not too good, Tony.” 

“Neither is McGee or Ziva. How about we meet at the gym tonight? There’s an outdoor court out there.” He looked around the squad room. He saw three nods. He looked at the bossman.

“What about you, boss?” Gibbs looked up from his file. He looked at his watch. It was 17:45. 

“Get out of here. I’ll meet you when I finish up.” Tony smiled.

“Sweet!! Let’s do this thing.” They all packed up their things and headed to the elevator. Tony and Ziva stood extra close as they made their way down. 

Tony’s smile was still plastered on his face like he had just won the lottery. Who knows? This could be fun. Right?


	2. Chapter Two

They all went their separate ways in the parking lot. Heading off to get a change of clothes and maybe some food. Ziva headed straight home, changed into a pair of her gym clothes, and grabbed an apple from a bowl on her counter. She was actually excited to be doing this. Not only did Tony seem to absolutely love it, but she also wanted to learn how to play. After all, it was a very big American sport. 

She left her apartment and made her way to the gym. When she pulled up and parked her car, she saw one person on the outdoor court. He looked to be shooting shots and banking them through the net. He was really good. She got out of her car and made her way over to the court. When she got closer, she could tell that this person was in fact, Tony. 

She didn’t realize how good he actually was at the game. Almost as if he could sense her presence, he turned around and gave her one of his biggest smiles. She couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on her face. She also couldn’t help but look at his form. He was shirtless, and his stomach was riddled with muscles. She couldn’t help but not look. 

He could see that she was staring at him. Hitting the gym had some perks, especially if she looked at him like that. 

“Are you ready?” She snapped out of her reverie and dropped her bag on the bench.

“Yes.” He moved them over to the goal and shot. The ball went through the net without any hesitation. He was really good at this. 

“So, what your gonna have to do first is have your feet spaced out. Make sure that the tips of your feet are aligned with one another. One hand should be placed in the middle of the ball and the other should be placed on the side. When you flick your wrist and produce enough power…” He shot the ball, and again it went in the hoop.

“You get that.” She nodded. Seemed simple enough. Right? He handed her the ball and she took the stance that she told her to do and positioned the ball above her head. He adjusted her stance to where it could be formed properly and backed away from her, letting her do the rest. 

She launched the ball out of her hands and it flew up and into the bucket. She threw her hands up, surprised that it actually went in. 

“Nice shot, Zeevah. Just keep doing that. You’ll be fine. We’ll wait until everyone gets here to work on defense and drills.” She nodded her head and practiced shooting the ball a few more times. The ball went in every time. 

‘Looks like we have a natural.’ Tony thought. It didn’t surprise him that she was good at the sport, or at least this part of it. She was good at practically everything. 

Around 20 minutes later, McGee and Abby pulled up to the basketball court. They got out and Abby was dressed in all black, of course, but in leggings and a tank top. Tim was dressed in shorts and an MIT sweatshirt. 

“Hey, Guys! We finally made it!” They laughed at Tim’s obvious eye roll.

“When do you think the bossman will get here?” They all shrugged their shoulders. They knew how unpredictable their boss was. They didn’t even know if he would really show up. 

“Okay. Let’s get started.” Tony went through the same motions with both Abby and McGee to get them to where they could actually shoot the ball. Abby learned fairly quickly and started making them in no time. Tim, however, kept hitting the backboard or missing completely. 

“Come on, Tim. It’s not that hard. Just position your hands right, use your strength, and release the ball.” McGee did as he was told but still couldn’t make the basket in the hoop. Tony walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder.

They had been going at this for the last two hours.

“How about you just pass the ball to one of us?” Tim adamantly nodded. That was fine by him. 

They had been practicing a number of drills and plays that they could use for the upcoming game. They saw an old beat-up truck pull into the parking spot next to Tim’s car. One Leroy Jethro Gibbs stepped out in sweatpants and a NIS sweatshirt. Seems he went home for a change of clothes and a bite to eat as well. 

“Hey, Boss.” Gibbs walked over to them and set his coffee down on the bench alongside everyone’s things. 

Gibbs held up his hands, signaling for Tony to pass him the ball. He did, and Gibbs caught it with ease. He moved closer to the goal and took a short. The first one in many years. It went through the hoop and Tony looked at him with wide eyes. 

“Nice shot, boss.” Gibbs let out a slight smirk. 

“You play?” Gibbs nodded. 

“Yeah. High School.” Tony smiled at that.

“I’ve known you for how many years and still didn’t know that? We could’ve talked about basketball all these years.” Tony whined. Everyone couldn’t help but smirk at his tone.

“We have, DiNozzo.” Tony thought back to the instances of when they had ever done that, and could only point out a few.

“Okay...we could’ve talked more then.” Gibbs shut the conversation down by pointing to the other members of the team. 

“What all have you worked on?” Tony moved over to where Ziva was standing. 

“Just shooting, some drills, and a couple of plays.” Gibbs nodded. 

“Think we got a chance?” Tony surprisingly nodded.

“Yeah. I think we might. We just can’t pass the ball to Mr. Gemcity over here.” McGee gave him a glare but was relieved that he wouldn’t have to shoot the ball. 

“What about these two?” Pointing at Ziva and Abby.

“They‘ve got their shooting down, it's just the defense that needs some work.” Gibbs nodded again and pointed to Ziva, telling her to go to a specific spot. She did and watched as Abby did the same but on the other side. 

“When I tell you to move, run out to the 3 point line.” They both nodded and got into position. Gibbs started up the court and yelled the signal. Ziva and Abby moved to where Gibbs said and he passed the ball to Ziva. He told her to shoot from the line. The ball went up into the air and down into the basket. Gibbs smirked. Seems like she was a natural. Tony high fived Ziva with a smile on his face. She returned it. 

“Alright Abs, your turn.” They got back into their positions and when Gibbs yelled go, they both ran out, but this time Gibbs passed the ball to Abby. Abby shot like she was taught but the ball bounced off the rim. Her shoulders slumped.

“It takes practice, Abs. You’ll get the hang of it. Until then, I think we should establish who’s playing what position.” He looked over at Gibbs, silently asking permission to assign roles. When he saw Gibbs’ slight nod, he went into “coach” mode.

“Alright, seeing as I’ve only played point guard, I’ll take that position. Ziva, seeing as you're a good shooter and could get around people, you’ll be the shooting guard.” Seeing her nod, he moved on.

“McGee, you’ll be the power forward. Abby, the small forward. Gibbs, seeing as you're the last available player, you’ll be the center. Your height will also work out in this position.” They all nodded, ready to begin learning what they needed to in order to play the game correctly and efficiently. They wanted to kick the FBI’s ass. 

“I like the drill that Gibbs was running. We should run that again, but this time have defense defending the goal.” Gibbs nodded, taking the ball back. They all moved into position. Ziva and Abby on either side of the free-throw line, and Tony and McGee standing next to them. Tony to Ziva and McGee to Abby. 

Gibbs started the play and made his way towards them. Ziva being as sneaky as she was, managed to get away from Tony, but not for long. Tony was very good at this sport, as well as analyzing his partner. When she turned thinking that she was on the clear, Tony was standing right there, hands up in a defensive position. She was surprised to see him. She couldn’t stop the shiver that went down her spine as she felt him so close, and shirtless. She thought she got out smoothly. McGee was trying and failing, to defend Abby. She got around him easily and received the pass from Gibbs, taking the shot, and making it. 

Gibbs smirked at her and nodded, silently telling her ‘good job’. Tony went over and high-fived Abby, and gave Tim a head slap. 

“Come on, McGamer. Get your head in the game.” Tim rubbed his head and glared at him. He looked around at everyone.

“Alright. This time I’m going to take Gibbs’ place. Gibbs, you’ll block Ziva and I’ll bring the ball down.” They nodded and ran the play. Tony decided to call out the play to make sure they understood where to go next in the game. They decided to call it “Sig”. 

After hours of playing through multiple different plays, they called it a night. Tony walked over to his gym bag, put his shirt back on, and took out his keys. He was one of the last to leave. Ziva was right beside him. He sighed. What if something went wrong with his knee again? He’d be more disappointed in losing this game than he did in college. He’d disappoint his family. He’d disappoint Ziva. He never wanted to do that. He had to make sure his knee would be in peak condition for the game. Ziva could sense that he was lost in thought and heard the sigh that he produced. 

“What is wrong, Tony?” 

“Last time I played, it was the championship game at Ohio State. It was 62 - 61, us in the lead. I was going for the dunk when my knee gave out on me. Couldn’t get up in time to stop the turnover. They scored and won the game. My teammates never looked at me the same again. Every time I saw them they sent looks of hatred and disappointment. I don’t want that to be the same case here.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a picture. It was him, in college, with a jersey and a basketball under his arm. She smiled at the picture of him. He didn’t look too different other than he was younger and his hair was a little longer. 

“My dad loved that I played. When it all fell apart and he found out I wanted to be a cop, that’s when things went sideways.” Ziva placed her hand on her shoulder. 

“We would never do that to you, Tony. We are a family.” He looked up at her and gave her a small smile. 

“Yeah. I know.” He gathered the rest of the things and made his way over to his car. She was following behind him. 

“See you at work tomorrow.” 

“Good night, Tony.” He watched as she drove into the night. He wasn’t going to let them down.


	3. Chapter 3

Today was the big day. Game day. They had been practicing all week, and even though Tony preferred more time, he was proud of what they had all accomplished. The game was being held at a local gym, not the one they had practiced at, and many government officials were attending. Including SecNav. Director Vance sat next to him as well as the Director of the FBI. Thankfully, they were given the bathrooms as locker rooms. 

“Alright. This is what we’ve practiced for. We can’t let the FBI kick our ass. We got this.” Tim looked like he was about to throw up in the corner, Ziva and Abby were hyped up, and Gibbs was just being Gibbs. 

“Remember the plays? The name? How to play in general?” That resulted in a head slap from Abby. 

“We’re quick learners, Tony. Besides, you and Gibbs taught us. We should be okay to win this thing!” Tony nodded. He was still worried about his knee, but didn’t want to mention it to anybody. Ziva looked over at him, she saw him take some ibuprofen earlier and suspected that it was a precaution for his knee. He chased down criminals and his knee has been fine, this should be no different. Right?

The sound of the scoreboard rang throughout the gym, signaling that it was time for them to make an appearance. They fixed their jerseys. Tony was #8, the same as he was during his school days. Ziva was #12. Abby was #27. Tim was #13. Gibbs was #2. Seeing as this was a government “tournament”, the jersey’s had NCIS on the front as well as the number but had their last name on the back. It was something Vance gave them the other day. They all made their way out of the bathroom and towards the gym. There were a bunch of people in the bleachers. They all looked wide-eyed at the number of people and slowly made their way over to their bench. Vance saw them coming and made his way over to them. 

“How are you feeling about this?” 

“Would have preferred more time, but we’re ready.” Vance nodded and patted Tony and Gibbs on the back. 

“You got this.” With that, he went back to his seat. Tony looked over at the FBI’s team. Their team consisted of Tobias Fornell, Ron Sacks, Brent Langer, and two other male agents that they didn’t know. Fornell and his team saw that they had arrived, and they all made their way over to them. 

“Gibbs.”

“Fornell.” 

“Hope your team’s ready, Gibbs. Both my lead boys played. They’ve taught my other two. My newest agents, Lucas Montgomery and Mason Jones.” He pointed to the two that they didn’t know. The two men gave them a nod. Tony couldn’t help but snicker.

“You're not the one ones that played.” He said under his breath. Only Ziva could hear him. Both Sacks and Langer looked appreciatively at her and she couldn’t help but want to punch both of them in the face. The only person that could look at her like that, was Tony. Not that she would admit that. Tony noticed them looking at her and unconsciously stepped in front of her, giving them a glare. They sent him one back. 

“DiNozzo. Shouldn’t you be in prison?” Sacks taunted.

“Haha. Maybe you won’t be talking smack when we wipe your whole team out.” The pair laughed.

“You really think that you can beat us. Last I checked, your team wasn’t really the basketball type.” His gaze went over to Abby and Tim. Tony quickly jumped to their defense. 

“They might surprise you, Slacks.” Sacks’ jaw clenched.

“For the last time, it’s Sacks.” Tony smiled.

“Like that’s any better.” Fornell finally jumped in as anyone in the room could feel the tension between the three. 

“Alright, that’s enough. Get back to the bench and warm up.” The four FBI agents went over to their side of the gym and started stretching. Fornell turned back to them.

“Hope your team does well today, Gibbs. No harm no foul when one of us wins.” Gibbs nodded and shook his hand. This was all for fun, yet their agents were treating it as life or death. 

One Fornell was a good distance away, Tony turned to look at his team, his family. 

“Alright, huddle up.” They moved into a circle, listening closely to Tony, even Gibbs. 

“Don’t listen to them, we got this. Now, we don’t have any replacements on the bench since Ducky’s playing in a golf tournament, and Jimmy’s on vacation. That means we’re playing this entire game ourselves.” He let out a slight sigh. Their first game and they wouldn’t be able to take a break, at least until halftime.   
“Don’t let that deter you. We chase criminals for a living, Abby you bowl with nuns. We can handle a little game of basketball.” They couldn’t deny that Tony could be good at pep talks. 

“We got this.” They all nodded at him and smiled. They could do this. Tony looked around the court and noticed that Fornell’s team were shooting shots and practicing for the little time that they had left. 

“Alright. Let’s go on our side of the court and shoot some shots.” They nodded and all of them made their way over to the right side of the court. A cart of basketballs was wheeled over to them and they each took one. The game didn’t start for another 20 minutes, they could have a little more time. 

When the scoreboard made another buzzing noise, they knew that it was time. They made their way back over to the bleachers and Tony gave them one last rundown of everything. He prayed to whatever god that would listen that his knee wouldn’t act up. 

They took their positions on the court. Both teams were at the center circle. Fornell’s team on one side, them on the other. Tony and Sacks were placed further back as they were both the point guards. Gibbs and Fornell were in the center about to jump ball, something both teams couldn’t help but joke about. They were all silenced with a glare. The ref tossed the ball into the air and Gibbs jumped at the first opportunity, grasping the ball in his hands, and passing it to Tony. They had the first possession. Team Gibbs made their way to their positions as Tony made his way down the court. He could see that Ziva was guarded by Langer and could see that he was barely paying attention to the game itself, instead choosing to look at her cleavage. Ziva took that to her advantage and bolted from him, creating an opening for the pass. Tony saw this and gave her a smooth pass. She caught the ball and started her dribbles. She got close enough to the goal to take a clean shot. The ball went through the hoop and Team Gibbs was awarded two points. As they all made their way to defend, Tony ran closer to Ziva and gave her a high-five. That was his ninja. 

As Sacks made his way down to their position, Tony went to defend. From what the team could see, Tony was as good at defense as he was at offense. He made it to where Sacks couldn’t even get a clear view of his team. Tony made a quick maneuver with his hand and stole the ball from him. He ran down the court, dribbling the ball, and jumped. He dunked the ball before half of their team was at the half-court line. He sent a taunting smile their way and made his way back to his team. Team Gibbs: 4 Team Fornell: 0. 

The first quarter went by quickly, mainly with Tony and Ziva teaming up together and gaining more points. Sacks and Langer had managed to get a few shots in, Gibbs managed to as well. They looked at the scoreboard, seeing they were still in the lead by quite a few points. 26-14. 

Tony patted each one of them on the back and couldn’t help but smile. They were doing well for their first-ever game, and with pretty good opponents. In better news, his knee was perfectly fine to keep playing. 

They went over their next game plan and made their way back onto the court. Tony turned his head to Abby and Tim. It was their turn to shine. The ref and Ziva were standing outside the line. Ziva passed him the ball and ran down the court to join the team, trying to get open for a shot. Tony ran down the court and looked at Abby and Tim. Tim was heavily guarded by both Montgomery and Jones. He looked over at Abby and noticed that she was somewhat open. He waited till they made eye contact and shot her a bounce pass. She grabbed ahold of the ball and performed an almost perfect layup. Abby ran over and gave him one of her miniature hugs and ran down the court again. 

As Langer made his way down the court, Sacks and Langer switched in position, for now, Ziva made her way towards him. She was good at guarding and distracting. She managed to make Langer look in the total opposite direction and stole the ball from him. Tony ran over beside her, making sure that she had all the assistance that she needed if it was needed in the first place. Instead of going for the dunk as Tony had, she backed up a little bit until she was behind the three-point line. She shot the ball upwards and the ball went around the rim not once, but twice, before going into the net. 

“Yeah, Ninja!” Tony yelled as the ball went in. She had been lethal with her three-pointers. Taking down not only his statistics but Gibbs’ as well, when they were both in their prime. She was killing it. 

By the time half-time came around the scoreboard read 37-23. They all made their way back to their “locker room” and took gulps from their water bottles. Tony couldn’t help but smile at his team.

“This is great. This is better than great.” He moved to sit beside Ziva, probably sitting a little too close than was necessary, and went on about how Sacks and Langer finally shut up. 

“Alright. When we go back out there, I want to run “Sig”. I want to give everybody a chance to score. It’s not just about the points, it's about fun. Abby, McGee, I want both of you to try your best to get free. Tim, you did better with layups during practice. You gotta get close to the goal.” McGee nodded in acknowledgment. 

“Abby. Keep doing what you're doing. Who knew bowling with nuns gave you that much strength. But you have to be careful, you already have two fouls on you, we don’t need anymore.” Abby nodded and went back to her CAF-POW! 

Tony turned to look at Ziva and Gibbs.

“Ziva, I need you to keep Langer and Sacks of me. They’ve picked up on me whenever I get to the line. Remember that screen I showed you during practice?” She nodded. 

“I’ll signal with my head which way I want to go. Block them from following me. But you don’t need any more fouls either.” She had a total of 3 fouls, five and you were out of the game. All of her fouls had been on Langer, how had gotten too close for comfort and she pushed back. They called it a foul, she called it sexual harassment. 

“Gibbs, keep Fornell away. He’s been giving signals to his team. Make sure he can’t see what we are planning.” Gibbs nodded. They all looked up when the door to the bathroom opened. Vance walked through and gave them all a nod.

“Good job out there. Keep it up.” He gave Tony a pat on the shoulder and walked back out of the room. That was quick. Tony looked around the room and smiled. 

“We got this.” He looked over at Ziva and looked into her brown pools. She gave him a small smile, which he returned, starting to get lost in her eyes.

It was time to head back into the court and play through the second half of the game against the FBI. They started the third quarter the same as they did the first. Teams had switched goals so they had to go to the left instead of the right. 

The fourth and final quarter being with NCIS still in the lead 46-32. They were dominating the FBI Tony noticed that Sacks was sending him a glare, something that wasn’t abnormal, but something was different this go-round. 

As Tony made his way to the goal, he jumped up, ready for the layup when a foot collided with his right knee. Tony fell to the ground in pain. He heard the ref’s whistle blow and saw Ziva’s face in front of him. He grasped at his knee, trying to will the pain away. 

“Dammit. This isn’t happening again.” He said it so quietly that only Ziva could hear it. 

“Tony. This is not your fault.” He shook his head and made to get up, only stopping when Ziva’s hand pressured his chest back to the ground. 

“Ziva. I have to get back up.” Ziva sighed.

“Do you think you can?” Tony swallowed down the pain and gave her a nod. She helped him up and the first person he made eye contact with was Sacks.

“Hey Slacks, that’s a foul!” Sacks gave him an evil grin, telling him all that he needed. Everything was on purpose, he meant to do it, meant to hurt him. He was sick of this bullshit. He ignored the pain in his leg and made his way over to him, ready to punch him in his smug face. Gibbs and Tim held him back from going any closer. Tony looked over at the ref and at Fornell.

“You really just gonna let him get away with that?!” Fornell has always been someone in his good book, seeing as Gibbs trusted him. He would lose all of it if he sided with that asshole. 

“DiNutso, you alright?” 

“Am I alright? Am I alright?! You’re guy just performed one of the biggest intentional fouls out there.” He could see Fornell sigh. 

“Sacks. Off the team. Go.” Tony’s jaw clenched as he saw Slacks walking off the court. Another player on their bench made his way over to them, intent on taking the place that was now vacant. The ref looked over at Tony.

“Can you play?” Tony didn’t even hesitate to nod. He wasn’t going to let them down like he did his teammates in college. 

“Tony. You are injured. There is no way that you can play the rest of the game.” She could see the fire burning in his eyes. Could see that he had no intent to squander. He wasn’t going to back down.

“I have to. We don’t have any other players on our bench. If I don’t play, the rest of you can’t either. We wouldn’t have enough players. I can do this, seriously.” Ziva reluctantly nodded at him, moving to stand beside him. Gibbs and McGee finally let go of his arms and watched as he put pressure back on his leg. Tony winced as it straightened out. He took a deep breath and took a step forward. He walked with a slight limp, but he would have to deal with that. 

He signaled that they could resume the game and made his way over to the line, waiting for Ziva to pass the ball in. She did and made his way, slower than usual, up the court making his way to them. He saw that Gibbs was open and passed him the ball. Gibbs stepped back and shot the ball from the three-point line. It went through the hoop and bounced on the court as it hit the ground. 

Fornell’s team regained possession and made their way to their side. Langer passed the ball to Fornell, which Tony intercepted. He took the fast break and ran as fast as he could to the goal. He looked at the scoreboard and noticed there was only 5 seconds left of the game. He made it to the goal and with every last ounce of his energy, jumped up and dunked the ball through the net. As he fell to the ground, the scoreboard rang out that the game was over. Ziva ran over to him and helped him onto his feet once more. He put his arm around her shoulder, trying to balance out his weight. He had a smile on his face though, one that he was proud to wear. He looked over at Vance. The man gave him a nod, Tony gave him one back. 

They did it. They beat the FBI. He looked over at the woman currently helping him stand. She looked back at him and smiled.

“We did it, Tony.” 

“Yeah, we did.” Abby ran over and gave him a hug. Gibbs patted him on the back and McGee gave him a nod. Tony placed a kiss upon Ziva’s forehead and smiled when her eyes went wide. Fornell came over to them and shook their hands, not leaving before he could apologize to Tony about Sacks. Tony shook his hand and they made their way out of the gym to the locker room to change and gather their things. 

Gibbs, Abby, and McGee seemed to already have left the room when Tony came out of the stall in fresh clothes. Ziva was waiting for him, sitting on one of the benches. He smiled at her. 

“Are you okay?” He sighed and nodded.

“Yeah. Just gonna need some ice and some ibuprofen and I should be all good.” He walked, well limped, over to her and sat down next to her. She heard his sigh in pain as he sat and bent his knee. 

“Would you like me to drive you home?” He thought it over. On the one hand, he didn’t want to hinder her, but on the other it was Ziva. In his apartment. They could have dinner and watch a movie and just talk.

“Please.” Ziva gave him a smirk, silently telling him that she knew what he was doing. 

“Then let’s go.” She helped him up and they walked out of the bathroom, out of the gym, and towards the rest of the team. 

They were a family. They work well together and there's never a man left behind, not even on the court.


End file.
